> But with more powerful hardware and sensors from 2-3 years in the future I could see this being a genuinely desirable product.

This is where people just don't know. Oculus hardware is already 2-3 years behind on release, they've got 5+ years of R&D to catch up by that metric. The Valve Index was released in 2019 and it's still the best hardware in the game, with rumors of new hardware on the horizon with recent hires.

Inside-Out tracking as on the Quest is great for portability, but unless you are massive enough to curve light around you, tracking fidelity will always be sub-par in comparison.

Not being tethered is nice, but the system is a glorified cell phone mainboard and screen in a case for your face, the necessary battery and performance limitations will be there.

Another one of these Constitutional Sherrifs?

Eh, UK wouldn't normally care. Government needs some JG Wentworth Cash Now

Don't know what's worse: FSB agents acting on foreign soil with impunity, or that apparently the UK's intelligence apparatus was/is able to curtail it at their whim.

I know counterintelligence is a thing, but I don't know how to read that sequence of events as anything other than MI5 dropping the ball and having to overcompensate.

They can leave at any time. Nothing is stopping them.

Well, there's a few lanes closed, but still